ESRB Ratings

EC — Early Childhood: A game with this rating is intended for very young audiences (usually over 3 years of age)

E — Everyone: Generally these games are suitable for people 6 and over. These games may have mild cartoon violence, mischief, among other non-serious actions.

E10+ — Everyone 10+: Added in 2005 after there were some complaints about a lack of a rating between E and T.

T — Teen: This class usually contains scenes that are appropriate for teenagers, however not for a young audience. A game rated T may contain mild language, small amounts of blood, and light violence. Grand Theft Auto 2 is an example and only Grand Theft Auto to have the T rating.

AO — Adults Only: Contains content suitable for adults over 18 years of age. Games contain strong violence, strong sexual content, strong language, use of drugs/alcohol, etc. Some editions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were rated this due to the Hot Coffee mod. Many people believe that this rating is used too sparingly, usually citing Manhunt as am underrated game (it received M), and thus argue it should be used more often.

RP — Rating Pending: This rating indicates a game's rating is pending, and no games that are for sale ever feature this rating. It is only put on game advertisements, demo discs, etc. An example of a game RP is Grand Theft Auto: 4